This year, MHADA has reserved 16 of the total 819 flats for both former and sitting MPs, MLAs and MLCs in its LIG, Middle Income Group (MIG) and the Higher Income Group (HIG) categories.
The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) has put out an annual lottery offering to sell a mere 819 'affordable homes' this year, the lowest in recent years.
Even in this dismal offering, and as Mumbai struggles to give its poor affordable homes, Mhada continues to reserve 2 per cent of the homes for sitting and former MPs, MLAs, and MLCs.
Last year, too, Mhada had received flak over the same issue. Moreover, in 2013, a committee headed by former deputy Lokayukta Suresh Kumar had recommended that Mhada scrap the quota for politicians in affordable housing schemes for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and the Lower Income Group (LIG) category as their basic salaries were generally above the eligible limits.
Earlier this week, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) informed the Supreme Court (SC) that it has been investigating the matter where there has been a substantial increase in the assets of seven Lok Sabha MPs and 98 MLAs across the country and that discrepancies were found in these.
MHADA has cited that it cannot cancel reservation quota for politicos until the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976, is amended by the state government. The housing authority claims that the 2 per cent reservation for MPs, MLAs and MLCs is as per provisions in the MHADA Act.
This year, MHADA has reserved 16 of the total 819 flats for both former and sitting MPs, MLAs and MLCs in its LIG, Middle Income Group (MIG) and the Higher Income Group (HIG) categories.
According to an advertisement issued by MHADA on September 15, 2017, the 16 flats have been reserved in areas like Powai, Kandivali, Goregaon and Vikhroli.
A senior state government official, said, "MHADA has sent a proposal to scrap the quota, and it is under the consideration of the state government. It is the housing department that can take it up further for scrapping reservation in MHADA lottery. We realise MPs, MLAs and MLCs need not benefit from the lottery for affordable homes. But the fact is that there is a demand for the same every year."
Milind Mhaiskar, vice-president and Chief Executive Officer, MHADA, was unavailable for comment.
Of the 819 flats, only 417 are available in the open category for general public, while the remaining ones are available for sale under several reserved categories.
While this year, not a single flat has been reserved for politicos in the EWS category, in the 2016 lottery, MHADA had reserved 19 of the total 972 flats for both former and sitting MPs and MLAs. Of this, 13 were in the EWS category while the rest were in LIG and MIG categories.
MHADA is already at the receiving end for this year's lottery, as 204 of the 819 homes are priced at Rs 1 crore or above and only eight homes are on offer for the EWS category.
However, Subhash Lakhe, chief of MHADA's Mumbai Board, said, "We would like to vouch for the rates at which we are selling flats at MHADA. They are cheaper than the flats available for sale by other builders. We are selling flats on the basis of carpet area while builders sell on built-up or super built-up basis."
Since the inception of MHADA in 1977, it has constructed more than 4.5 lakh units in the state. The flats for the Mumbai Board lottery are located in areas such as Pratiksha Nagar in Sion, Rawalpada in Dahisar, Unnat Nagar in Goregaon and Chembur.
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